Mile 23: I’m Making You a Promise

Recently, my very good friend Christina of the Athletarian deleted her blog and social channels. In the process, she gave up thousands of dollars and promotional opportunities but from what I have been hearing from her, she has never been happier.

I am so freaking proud of her and it really was a reminder for myself to take a good long look at why I am here.

I have always said that I will blog until I don’t love it anymore. Well, I love it still. Writing is something that has always been a part of me and I love getting letters and emails from people who read my blog, meeting some of my best friends through social media and being inspired every day by incredible people.

It’s just that this whole online world has changed. When I began blogging in the healthy living space over SEVEN YEARS AGO, people would take a photo of their Fage yogurt and Clif bar with a terrible camera and would have thousands upon thousands of readers. I sound ancient but it really was the good old days because people were completely open and honest about the fact that they ate a sad desk salad for lunch instead of bringing in a lighting production team to make it seem like they get it delivered by dove and placed carefully onto crafted china each day.

My first post in May 2010 was a commitment to being real and not just making this blog a highlight reel. It was back when I had maybe 2 readers and no idea if this blog would make it past the first 3 months:

This was my goal and since then, I have watched the little health and wellness space become about appearances, abs, accomplishments, chasing free products and lifestyle curation. I have sort of stumbled around trying to figure out where I fit in all of that.

Here’s the truth: I don’t.

I truly don’t have a problem with any influencer who posts beautiful, curated and carefully scheduled content based on when the majority of their followers are online because sometimes it feels great to look at photos like that and pretend like there ARE people who have it all and that maybe if you try hard enough, you will too. And heck, if they want to pay a few dollars to buy some followers to inflate their numbers for sponsorships, it is their own business.

But I need you to know that I don’t think of you as my followers. You are my friends.

And my life is patchy cell service in remote weekend adventures and needing to wipe off trail dirt or bike grease off my body to take a decent photo. I can’t lie that dinner is often eating a quick sandwich over the kitchen sink before heading out on my bike to ride for the evening or shutting off my phone on a holiday and missing a hundred awesome photo ops because I really want to be fully present for my friends and family.

Here’s the thing.

I am not leaving.

But I wanted to let you know that I will be running everything I write or post through the filter of “will this make my friends feel better or worse by seeing or reading this?”

Why? Well, lately I’ve noticed that whenever I take a scroll through my social channels, I end up with the internal dialogue of “I can’t cook that, look like that, buy that, or travel there.” I just don’t feel great about social media sometimes and I have decided that if I am staying, I want to do my part in changing the narrative.

The bottom line is, I am committed to having you leave all channel of Laces and Lattes feeling like you are catching a glimpse of a flawed but happy human being and that no harm is being done in how you feel about your day, your accomplishments, your possessions or your appearance. I’m NOT saying that I think I am the best cook with the hottest body and the best travel itinerary (last time I checked, sink sandwiches weren’t trending…), I’m just saying I am going to be extra focused on not just posting photos with good angles or only writing blog posts when things are GOOD and GREAT and AWESOME.

I don’t want to be here for the followers or the likes or the stuff from companies – I want to be here for the real, honest, authentic connection with other people. I don’t really buy that you can be in it for both.

If I don’t have something good to say or something constructive to show, I am not going to post it.

If there is a company I don’t truly love, I am not going to talk about it. I have chosen to discontinue a few partnerships, not because they aren’t awesome companies, I just am not here to sell you things and too many partnerships can create a lot of noisy clutter. Everything I post is about things that I use regularly and are things that I truly believe will help you.

Thank you to Christina for her brave step that inspired me to draw my line, thanks to my best friends for calling me out in times I haven’t been truly authentic and thanks to all of you for being here.

In a world that is bombarded with computer enhanced images and virtual reality, this post stands out as refreshing and genuine. As your father I want it to be known that I am proud of you for sharing genuine and enduring values via the social media platforms of today.

I love you, Jess! This is a great post. I’ve never questioned why you are here and have always thought of you as the most genuine blogger (and friend)! It’s clear you’re in it for the right reasons and I think all of your readers know that.

Now let’s put something on the calendar so I can see your beautiful face!!

THIS. I feel the same way. I got home from a camping trip with my brother during the summer and I was like, “hey… I forgot to take photos,” and it felt SO GOOD. I was clearly present, having fun, and spending some quality time without cell service with my family. How is THAT not celebrated more than a just-woke-up-in-this-tent-perfectly-facing-a-way-too-exposed-cliff instagram photo. I love that you keep it real and it’s why I keep reading. 🙂 xx

Yes to all of this!! I feel like this is what you’ve always done and love reading your posts. They are inspiring, thought provoking, honest and I love that I never feel like you’re trying to make things look or sound better than they are.

Oh my goodness gracious. This blog post was amazing! Thank you so much for your truthful and genuine words. I often find myself getting overwhelmed when it comes to social media in the fitness/wellness world. It creates the illusion of perfection which isn’t real. And even though I know that, I still can’t help but get caught up in it at times. So once again, thank you! This was very encouraging to me.

I love this, it’s such a great reminder to always be real – no matter how curated life seems to be around us – I am not a careful curator myself – I take photos when I’m in the yoga studio before or after practicing and post them because it brings me joy to see where I am in a certain posture. I take photos while I’m running with my dog – sometimes just so I can take a little break 🙂 – and I also can’t “cook like that” or often look like that. And while I do partnerships, I try to do them in a way that is still very much 100% me. And I truly think that’s the only way to survive in this online world. It’s to be 100% as true to you as possible. So glad to see / hear that you’re doing you- beautiful, inspiring post!